


(I Just Wanna Be) Alone Together

by AeschylusRex



Category: RWBY
Genre: F/F, First Kiss, Sharing a Bed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-26
Updated: 2019-03-26
Packaged: 2019-12-18 04:46:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,800
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18242660
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AeschylusRex/pseuds/AeschylusRex
Summary: "I want things, Weiss." Ruby's voice leaves her throat as little more than a nervous croak, but it is louder than a gunshot cracking between them. "I think you want them, too."





	(I Just Wanna Be) Alone Together

**Author's Note:**

> 3.25.19  
> so i thought this could be a white rose week piece, until i realized that white rose week isn't until june. sooooo here's an early present i guess.  
> ~enjoy!

 

"It's a barn," Weiss says, grunting as she heaves the weathered old door open. "Or it was, before half of it caved in." 

Ruby clicks on her flashlight app and aims the beam into the gloomy interior of the building. The stale air is thick with dust that flickers past like ghostly specks of white. The aroma that wafts into her nose is redolent of rotting wood and straw. She takes a moment to scan the room, noting the empty stalls and the rusty tools left behind. Part of the roof has separated from the beams overhead and now spills inward like a blanket draped over a bed frame. A gaping hole in the left side of the barn reveals a turbulent evening sky, bruised purple and grey clouds that threaten snow. A good deal of it. It's a freak spring storm. 

"I'm not sure how much real protection this will provide," Weiss says, venturing further inside. 

Her boots kicks up yet more dust as her heels drag along the ground. She's chosen a heavy-soled combat variety for this mission and isn't accustomed to the extra weight.

"It's better than nothing,” Ruby says. “We can use the tarp to make a little tent or something, and there's enough dry timber in the corner to start a fire." 

"I can start a fire dry or not," Weiss muses, peering up at the ceiling. "You know that." 

Ruby shrugs and un-shoulders her weapon. It thumps against the packed earth floor. She's sore in all the wrong places and starving. They're down an ATV, which means less food, less fuel, less supplies. The griffin that attacked them sent Weiss' vehicle over the side of a cliff without a shred of remorse and they're too far out to radio for a new one. They'll have to make it to the next signal tower, still a day's ride northeast. 

"I'm going to bring the rest of our stuff inside," Ruby calls, and hears a vague noise of assent from her partner as she turns to go back out into the wind. 

The trees around the abandoned farm are old pines, with long, sharp needles and bark as tough as crocodile skin. They whisper and bend now as the breeze picks up, as the sky darkens and the craggy peak of Bald Mountain looms ever more oppressive over the narrow valley. Ruby shivers. It feels more like January than April. 

In the tall grass just fifty yards away, near the remnants of the charred farmhouse, she approaches the ATV and trailer warily, listening for sounds on the perimeter, the creaking of the hot engine as it cools. Once she's satisfied they haven't been followed, she drives the ATV and their supplies back over to the barn, pulling inside through the wide door to obscure their hidden campground as much as possible. She's only just killed the engine when Weiss calls from somewhere above. 

"Ruby, there's a loft up here!" 

Ruby dismounts and squints up into the gloom, following the light of Weiss' scroll. "Anything good?" 

"Just a bed and some furniture! I think someone lived in here! There's a stove!" 

A grin of excitement pulls at Ruby's lips as she heaves the front doors shut and bounds further into the barn. Near the back she finds a simple ladder leading up through a trapdoor to a mezzanine level. It's fully shielded from the elements by an intact section of roof, and the floorboards are less rotten for it. She peers around in wonder as her head clears the trapdoor. The roof is on an A-frame and the ceiling is somewhat low, but the little room is cozy. She observes the chairs and the table, the cupboard, the frame of a twin bed. Weiss is crouched in front of a little black wood stove, no doubt debating whether it's safe to light. 

"If it snows we can heat some water up to bathe," Weiss says, her tone nearly giddy as she points to a rusted milk pail in the corner. 

"There's a well near the house," Ruby says, clambering to her feet. "I noticed the spigot and pump handle when I went to get our stuff." 

"Oh thank god. I would do unspeakable things for a shower right now." 

"You say that every trip." 

Weiss snorts. "You can take the girl out of Atlas..." 

"Yeah, yeah." Ruby spares an affectionate little smile. "How's the mattress? I'm neutral on the shower thing, but the chance to sleep in an actual bed?" Ruby's eyes roll back into her head. "Heaven." 

"It's fine. Its surface is plastic, like a dorm mattress. No mold that I can see." 

"Yes!" Ruby pumps her fists and bounces on the spot. "I'm so excited!" 

Weiss, who has been scraping around inside the stove, leans back on her haunches and reaches for Myrtenaster. She draws it carefully in the confined space, clicks the barrel to red, and aims the tip into the inner compartment. A quick flick sets its contents ablaze. 

"In that case, I'll take the floor," she says, standing, and wipes her soot blackened hands on her camouflage pants. "I know your back is bothering you." 

Ruby dismisses her with a wave. "Don't be silly. We can share." 

Weiss tenses slightly, so imperceptibly Ruby nearly misses it, but she knows her partner well. They've been together for years. She can read Weiss' emotions better than her own. She also knows that if she pushes now Weiss might acquiesce, again, before she has time to think of an excuse. 

"Please?" Ruby wheedles. "It'll be cold tonight. Probably freezing! And you know how cold I get when I sleep. We can share body heat!" 

Weiss tenses more still. The line of her shoulders looks positively rigid as she turns and eyes Ruby dubiously. 

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" 

"Why wouldn't it be?" Ruby asks innocently and Weiss scoffs. 

"Why wouldn't it be," she mutters to herself, and strides past Ruby toward the ladder. "Fine. But we have a lot of work to do before we settle down for the night. I'm going to start by getting some more firewood. You should think about testing that well you saw earlier."

"Yes, ma'am!" Ruby replies cheerfully, jumping to a salute, and sets about her task with enthusiasm.

Outside, the last vestiges of daylight are fleeing over the mountain as the first snowflakes swirl around the treetops. The wind has grown bitter cold, and Ruby shivers in her coat. Her nose runs and her cheeks grow red. She focuses on the things to look forward to as she trudges across the property to the old well, on the smell of Weiss' hair and the softness of her skin, the things that keep her fascinated and furtive in the middle of the night when they lie close together on the floor of their tent. Closer all the time. Close enough to feel the shape of each other's bodies through their sleeping bags. 

Ruby licks her lips and feels the sting where her chapped skin has split. It feels more sensual than it should, the rough texture against her tongue. 

An hour later, the air in the loft is warm enough for Ruby to be comfortable in just a long sleeved shirt and fleece sweats as her hair dries. She sits at the table eating out of a packet of instant lentils while Weiss scrubs shampoo into her hair over the bucket of hot water. She's topless and stripped to her wool leggings, back turned to Ruby. The moment offers a peculiar opportunity for further study. Ruby battles with her inner sense of propriety while she chews. 

"Winter was probably right about waiting a few more weeks," Weiss says, reaching for a towel. 

Ruby startles and nearly drops her food. She hadn't realized how thick the silence had grown.

What do you mean?" 

"She warned me that the weather out here was volatile this time of year and I brushed her off." Weiss reaches for a heavy thermal shirt and Ruby averts her eyes. "I figured we could handle a bit of rain. I didn't count on snow."

"I'm glad it's snow and not rain," Ruby says honestly. "Rain bums me out." 

"Well, yes, but rain can't kill you."

"We have enough cold weather gear." 

Weiss laughs, but it's not mean. "You obviously didn't grow up in Atlas," she says. 

Ruby hums. "Do you think we would've been friends as kids?" 

Weiss tilts her head. "Where's this coming from?" 

"I dunno” Ruby shrugs. “Do you?" 

"Well, my father wouldn’t have let me anywhere near commoners," Weiss replies, sighing, "so no."

"Okay, but what if that wasn't a factor. What if we'd gone to the same school or something. Do you think we'd have been friends?" 

Weiss smiles and twists her lip, glancing shyly at Ruby over her shoulder. "Best friends, probably." 

Ruby's heart stutters. "Best friends. Right. Yeah..." 

Weiss starts to comb her hair. Ruby, meanwhile, turns and listens to the wind outside whipping through the trees, listens as it howls through the cracks in the wall. The world is silent otherwise, muffled by the snow falling in earnest all around them. She shivers and finishes the last bite of her food. It's not warm inside enough to get cocky. Sharing body heat makes actual, practical sense for once, and she couldn't be more relieved to have an excuse. 

She glances at the cot, at the thick wool blanket and the sleeping bags draped over it. Ruby realizes it's either a stroke of luck or misfortune that they thought to bring redundant sleeping gear. She'd prepared herself out of shared sleeping arrangements for the rest of the trip. 

She thinks about this as she brushes and flosses her teeth, as she settles into their somewhat less than heavenly makeshift bed and presses her back against the wall, watching Weiss put the finishing touches on her braid, watching her feed more logs into the stove. 

"What're you staring at?" Weiss asks, as she dips her legs under the covers.

Her question goes unanswered. The mattress is narrow and it forces their bodies together immediately. Ruby shudders. If Weiss notices she says nothing, simply lies down on her back and stares up at the shadows dancing across the cobwebbed ceiling. 

"It's a little creepy in here," she remarks quietly, quietly enough for her words to be swallowed by the wind. 

"It's pretty much the start of every horror movie ever," Ruby adds helpfully. 

Weiss glares at her, but her ire wavers when the barn groans under the force of a sudden gust and she flips over onto her side, molding herself tightly against Ruby's body. 

Ruby's eyelids flutter. She flushes with heat from head to toe and a curious tingling pricks her skin. It feels good to have Weiss close. It feels right. It stirs something in her that she's never really examined before, not until recently. She could chalk it up to late onset puberty or a final end to the war that kept them all occupied for so long, but that didn't stop Yang and Blake, nor Ren and Nora. Ruby wonders, briefly, why she and Weiss have taken such a long route to get here. She wonders why they've each been so reluctant, in their own ways, to discuss their feelings. 

"Maybe I'm just scared," Ruby mutters aloud, and winces when she realizes what she's let slip.

"What?" Weiss tilts her head up. "Scared of what?" 

Ruby bites her lip. She doesn't know whether it would be prudent to bring this up now. She doesn't want to scare Weiss out of their bed. She doesn't want the conversation to end, again, before it's started. 

"I'm..." 

"Rubes?"

Ruby's resolve cracks. "I'm scared of you, I think. I mean...not you, exactly. Of what you represent." 

Weiss blinks. "What I represent," she parrots flatly, expectantly. 

Ruby's chest tightens, signaling the rapid onset clammy hands and panic, but she ignores it. She pushes through it. She feels bold tonight on this bed, in this collapsing barn. The storm is wild and Ruby's feelings are wild with it, blowing about in her body like stinging winds. She is restless. She is tired of dodging. They have to talk about it. They have to talk about it before someone explodes. 

"I want things, Weiss." Ruby's voice leaves her throat as little more than a nervous croak, but it is louder than a gunshot cracking between them. 

Weiss understands immediately. Her body stiffens and she coils up like an animal about to flee. On instinct, Ruby touches her cheek, cups her jaw, threading tenacious fingers into damp hair to hold her fast. 

"I think you want them, too. I just…don't know why we can't talk about it." 

Weiss lies perfectly still, her rigid composure belied only by her breathing. Ruby can feel the rapid rising and falling of her chest, the expanding of her ribs in perfect rhythm with her racing heart. 

"...Weiss?" 

Weiss closes her eyes. "I don't know either." 

"Are you scared?" 

Weiss says nothing. 

"It's okay to be scared," Ruby whispers, pressing her lips into soft, white hair. "It's a pretty scary thing." 

Weiss sucks in a tremulous breath. "My parents were cruel to one another, and to us. My sister never married or kept boyfriends. I just have no basis for this." 

"My mother died?" Ruby offers, laughing weakly. "My only real relationship role model is Yang." 

"She and Blake are nauseating together." 

"Aw, I think you like it." 

Weiss tilts her head up on Ruby's shoulder and rolls her eyes. "I cannot enter a single room without announcing myself anymore." 

"I think it's cute." 

"Of course you do." 

"...What if we had something like that?" 

Weiss falls silent for a long moment. Ruby waits, patiently, for her partner to parse her thoughts. 

"Do you think we could?" Weiss ventures at length. "Would it even be possible?" 

"Uh, duh. Yes. We absolutely can." 

Weiss blushes in the dim firelight and buries her face in Ruby's neck. It tickles something deep in Ruby, something she reaches for this time. Her arms fold around Weiss' narrow body, possessive and protective. It's a minute at least before Ruby realizes Weiss is trembling lightly. 

"Are you okay?" 

Weiss shakes her head, nose brushing Ruby's skin. "I don't know. I think so."

"Do you want me to let go?" 

Weiss shakes her head again. 

Ruby sighs contentedly and sinks into her thoughts. Holding Weiss is a peculiar kind of bliss she doesn't have a word for. Sheer happiness, perhaps. Contentment. Satisfaction. A hunger sated. Her tired, aching body is starting to protest loudly and she can feel herself blurring at the edges, but she fights it. She tries to hold back the tendrils of sleep just a little bit longer, if only to bask in the feel of Weiss' body melting against hers, warm and solid, pliable under her fingers. 

"Hey," Ruby whispers, as the pull of exhaustion grows stronger, "can I ask you something?" 

"Sure," Weiss murmurs, also sleepy. 

Ruby pauses for a minute to gather her courage. "I think about, um. I think about kissing you sometimes, and I was wondering if you ever...you know. Think about kissing me, too?" 

"Mm," Weiss hums. "Sometimes." 

Ruby's heart starts to beat a little harder. It thrums in her ears like a baseline and she swallows, finding her throat suddenly dry. 

"Would it be okay if I kissed you now?" 

Weiss doesn't reply and Ruby begins to fumble. 

"I, um- Sorry. It's just been on my mind all day, and- I'm sorry. I probably made you uncomfortable, and I really didn't mean to imply- mmph!"

Warm lips cover hers. Warm and slightly chapped. Dry but soft, and wonderful, and electric. Ruby sighs into the kiss and Weiss returns the sentiment in kind, inhaling sharply through her nose, brushing the tip of her tongue along the seam of Ruby's mouth. She lingers until Ruby's fingers have relaxed against her shoulders, until their movements have begun to meld and they've edged into more suggestive territory. Only then does Weiss break away. 

"Okay," she pants, tipping her forehead against Ruby's sternum. "Okay, that was... That wasn't so bad." 

Ruby blinks rapidly. "That was..." 

"I know."

"Incredible." 

"I know." 

Ruby licks her lips. She tries to breathe, but her heart is racing. Her blood is pumping. She's soaring and she craves more. 

"Can we do it again?" 

"We should go to sleep," Weiss tries, with no conviction whatsoever. 

"Just one more," Ruby pleads. "Just one more kiss, please." 

"Okay," Weiss relents, lifting herself up with lidded eyes. "Just one more."

"One more..." Ruby murmurs, bringing their mouths together. 

The howl of the wind drowns out Weiss’ whimper. 

\- 

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> A/N: like my work? wanna support me? leave a comment!
> 
> you can also come yell at me on tumblr @ aeschylusrex


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